Congress chief Sonia Gandhi asked Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor not to defy the directive of the Kerala unit of the party, asking him not to attend the event organised by CPI(M) as part of its Party Congress.
The Left party had invited Tharoor and former Union minister K.V. Thomas to attend various seminars ahead of its 23rd Party Congress scheduled to be held at Kannur in the state from April 6 to 10.
Gandhi denied permission to Tharoor after Congress' Kerala unit chief K. Sudhakaran said the party barred its leaders from attending the events organised by CPI(M) as the party was strongly opposing the left government's proposed K-Rail project.
Tharoor had clarified that the topic of the seminar, to which he was invited, was not related to any issues pertaining to Kerala or K-Rail. "They had invited me and I accepted. This time they have invited me to take part in a seminar as part of its Party Congress. There is nothing wrong in engaging with political dialogues. And the topic of the seminar is not K-Rail or anything related to Kerala."
Sudhakaran had said the Thiruvananthapuram MP can participate in the event if he gets permission from Gandhi. "The people do not like Congress leaders participating in the programme organised by the CPI(M). The Congress party members despise, loathe such leaders who associate with (Chief Minister) Pinarayi Vijayan, who is moving forward with the K-Rail project. If he (Tharoor) wants to participate, he can. It is his wish. He can take the permission of Sonia Gandhi and do accordingly," he had said.
Tharoor was among the Congress leaders who attended the recent meeting of the dissenting G-23 leaders.